Valentine's story
by Kathlyin
Summary: Mystery Friend sends a letter to Hermione fortnight before Valentine's day. He/F, trios fifth year.
1. 15 days to Vday

_Dear Hermione_

_I've watched you for over a year. I wanted to tell you since last year's Valentines day, but you were under a lot of stress then and I didn't think you would believe me then. You might not believe me now either, but I'm not joking. I know you don't believe yourself to be notice worthy, but you really are. I've known you since you came to Hogwarts even though I really didn't notice you as a girl until last year at the Yule Ball. I think the whole school learned then that you are a girl. Most people usually see only the books and smarts but you're so much more than that. You are beautiful even if you don't see it. I do. You have great personality, you are caring and brave. You stand up for what you believe in, no matter what is up against you. I've noticed you in the library, you tend to curl up in a chair when you read something for fun and curl your hand in your hair. When you find an answer on a question or problem you're having, your whole face lights up. You start to beam with happiness. I know people say that you don't have fun, even your best friends, but they've never seen you in the library. Alright I'm starting to ramble a bit._

_I just wanted to tell you that I like you. It started out with fascination, but I feel like I got to know you just by watching you. Valentines day is coming in 2 weeks and I'm hoping you would be my Valentine. I know you will shake your head when you read this, but I will prove you I really do like you_

_Mystery Friend_

Hermione Granger stared at the letter. She couldn't imagine who had written it or how it had gotten in her potions book. When she had opened it to start her homework, it had fallen on the table. Her bag had never been unattended and apart from eating and lessons she had carried it herself. Looking through the letter again, she looked for clues. He, presumably, was at least in her year or older since he had said knowing since she had come to school and mentioning the Yule Ball. She couldn't recognize the writing so she doubted anyone in her year had written it. But then again the person could have had someone else write the letter. Or it could be joke.

She looked around the room. There were only few people spread around the room, most people doing their homework. Quite a few people were in the library. Curfew wasn't for another 2 hours, so people were hanging out with their friends from other houses. At the window, it seemed Ron Weasley had managed to con a third year into playing chess. By the looks of the distress on the younger boy's face, he was loosing. There was a small crowd gathered around them to cheer quite loudly their year mate. The last member of their trio, the Harry Potter, boy-who-lived or whatever ridiculous name they had come up with, was watching the game with amusement. She could see he wasn't enjoying the game as much as others. She felt bad for him. The wizarding world's most famous magazine had been making his life difficult, again. Also their defence teacher wasn't making his life any easier. This was a rare night off for him, usually spending his nights in detention or Occlumency lessons. She could only hope that his life would get even a little easier on him.

She suspiciously spied the prankster twins, Fred and George Weasley, as they were whispering to each other next to the fire. They could have easily gotten the letter unnoticed in her bag and they lived for jokes and pranks. She didn't think they were cruel, even though they did take full advantage on the innocence of first years. First years had no chance against the seventh-year duo. Most first years had no idea how famous the twins really were, and later some were afraid to say no to them for fear of pranks. But they were never cruel. Most victims of their pranks were bullies in one form or another. They seemed most alive when people were laughing. She realised she had been staring at them for too long and they had noticed her staring. She quickly looked away and hoped they wouldn't think much of it. She had never confessed to anyone but she had had a crush on Fred for few years now. She had spend time with the twins in her first year before the troll incident. They had tried to get her to relax. They were quite different if you had the chance to get to know them.

Suddenly she realised if the mystery admirer was real, this was her chance of growing past her feelings for the prankster. She looked over the letter again. Despite the slightly creepy beginning, the writer seemed to understand her. She laughed a bit when she realised, he was right: she had been shaking her head while reading. She put the letter inside another book and tried to concentrate on her homework. First time in her life it seemed difficult as her thoughts get coming back to the letter and the mystery friend. How would he prove he was telling the truthl?

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><p>I don't own anything but the plot. I wanted to write more detail about their fifth year but my copy of Order of the Phoenix has gone AWOL during my move and I don't want to write anything I'm not at least 90% sure. When I get it I will put more details but before that I will continue writing this story.<p>

Please I would love comments, I am here to improve my writing and positive criticism would be very apreciated. I´ve corrected most of them I hope.


	2. 12 days to Vday

It had been two long days, since she had received her mystery letter. She had managed to half convince herself that the letter had been a joke. Even after rationalising, that she shouldn't give that secret joker the satisfaction of seeing her upset, she hated herself for hoping to get a new letter. She had been antsy at every morning when owls brought the mail and had checked her bag several times a day to see if there was anything new inside her bag. To make matters worse, Harry had noticed her strange behaviour.

"Are you sure you're allright? You seem a bit weird." He once again asked her. However, this time it was Ron who jumped to her defence. "Harry stop bothering her. Who would be normal before DADA lesson." She smiled at him. Ron had many talents and good qualities, but keen observations kills weren't one them. This morning luck seemed to be on her side, since Harry seemed to interpret her smile as confirmation to Ron's statement. She looked around them and noticed that their year mates were all nervous and fidgeting.

Giving last look at the enchanted ceiling, she gathered her bag and stood up. Still no owls for her. Only mail she had received these days was the Daily Prophet. Harry followed her out the Great hall and few seconds later Ron ran to catch them. He had at least two croissants in his hands, probably more in his pockets. She smiled how predictable he was. She could always count on Ron's appetite. It didn't take them long to get to the Defence classroom. They seemed to be first ones there. Since Umbridge had started teaching them, it was unanimous amongst students that defence was the most hated sunject in the school. Usually the most hated was O.W.L level Potions, except with Slytherins. She had wondered if Professor Snape had some form of system to teach his house defence. She wouldn't put it pass him to teach his house it himself, after all he had been after the defence post for many years. She knew Hufflepuffs had tried to follow the lessons as instructed but it had left them a bit confused. They had asked the older students and Ravenclaws for help. Ravenclaws had taken the change of curriculum as a challenge and had set up a camp on the defence section of the library and she had had difficulties getting books for their club. Quite a few students from all houses but Slytherin had come to their defence club, Dumbledore's Army. The DA had grown little by little bigger since they had started it. She considered it lucky that teachers hadn't found out or even if they had they hadn't told Umbridge.

She jumped at the sound of the bell. All the students had gathered on the defence corridor while she had been in her thoughts. She, like many others around her, stiffened at the sounds of heels and nausea inducing girlish giggle. They let their teacher go first into the room. It had become the favourite place to set up pranks. She tried not to laugh, thinking back the lesson where Umbridge had started to swell up and turn neon green. It had taken the teacher most of the hour to realise, what was happening. She took her normal seat and took her books and notes. However she hit a snagwith her quill. She had left it in a special pocket inside the bag, but it wasn't there. Her ink bottle was where it was supposed to be but no quill. She reached to the bottom of the bag and finally found a long box. She placed it on her lap and discreetly checked it for spells. Nothing. She was intrigued. She opened the box carefully and found 5 different coloured quills in it. Picking one up she noticed it wasn't just a quill, it was purple sugar quill. When she was in Diagon Alley before first year, she had seen the different coloured quills on the window of wizarding candy shop but so far she hadn't had a opportunity to get some. Normally she didn't approve sugar or candy, especially in higher dozes like sugar quills due to her dentist parents, but sugar quills were her weakness. At home or elementary school she used to chew her pens while thinking. She had brought her habit into wizarding world but normal quills tasted bad and left tiny bits of feather in her mouth. One of the girls in her year had suggested the sugar quills, and from first taste she was hooked on them. How had her mystery friend known she wanted to try the coloured sugar quills or was it a coincidence? Unfortunately she didn't have time to see if the box had a note because the lesson had already begun and students were already reading around her.

* * *

><p>Instead of going straight to lunch, she told her friends she was going to the library to pick up a book. She really did need a book but she was more interested in the box of quills. She hadn't had the chance to look at it more carefully. She went to the back of the library to have more privacy. After checking she was alone, she took out the box. It was a simple white box with no markings. She opened it and there were 4 quills left: red, blue, yellow and green. She noticed that inside the top half, there was writing.<p>

_Dear Hermione_

_I'm sorry it took me this long to write. I had ordered the quills before I wrote the first message but they only arrived yesterday. I had noticed you chew on pens and quills and you tend to use sugar quills but you only have the white ones from Hogsmeade. So I wanted to give you these. Each colour has their own flavour, red is strawberry, blue for blueberry, yellow for lemon, purple for grapes and green for apple. There are more flavours but I think you will appreciate these. These are also more nutritious than the white ones, not a lot though. I know you like to eat healthy. I know you have umbridge first thing this morning, I hope nothing goes wrong or that you won't get detention. Believe me they aren't fun. Although you most likely know that already, with being Harry's friend._

_Mystery Friend_

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><p>Still don't own anything but plot.<p>

If there are problems, I blame headache, but please do report them. I don't think I will be posting chapters this often in the future, especially not tomorrow, but I got inspired today.

Ok reading this through couple days later it was horrible. So I corrected the biggest errors but it's still almost excatly the same no new information or anything.. Also I noticed a little error. -11 would make this a Saturday and I don't think they had lessons on Saturdays so I changed it to -12 days and Friday.


	3. 9 Days to Vday

Hemione's new quills came in good use. Since her first gift, she had been able to relax enough to complete her homework and make her lesson plans. Although she had already done her homework, the quality wasn't exactly up to her standard and she had redone most of them. She did smile when she noticed she had been chewing on her new quill. Lucky for her, her sweet, unobservant best friends had yet to notice the smiles or her change of attitude. Or they had been just happy she was more or less back to normal and decided not to comment. She didn't want to know what they though of it, since they might put the blame on her being a girl one way or another. It was better not knowing exactly what boys though about.

She had made a deal with Harry and Ron. She would spend most of her Saturday with them after lunch if she could spend the Sunday in the library. On Saturday morning she had spend doing her homework in the common room since it was one of the few moments it was quiet. Downside of being a Gryffindor was the noise. Upside was that she had the best friends she could have ever hope for. She had often wondered how different her life would have been if she had been sorted in Ravenclaw. She was sure she would have gotten along with her dorm mates better but she wasn't sure if she would have the friends she did. She knew that if there wasn't anyone to pull her into the real world once in a while she might spend her free time just reading. She sometimes just played reluctant when Ron and Harry dragged her away from library or books just because they expected it. She loved them like brothers and she almost always did have fun with them. She could have done without the most dangerous stunts, like the giant chess game or being chased by human-hungry werewolf. When the boys had woken up, they headed to lunch and spend the hours between meals outside. It had been a sunny, if somewhat cold, day. They had watched other students skating on the Black Lake and when they were starting to get too cold they had visited Hagrid. They had spend a lovely afternoon trading stories and secretly pocketing rock cakes.

The next day, she made her way to library as soon as she had eaten breakfast. She had always woken up early and she could never just sleep in. The mornings were her own time. She could do things she enjoyed and not think about what others thought of them. She would often lay in bed for half an hour just relaxing. This past school year, she had been doing yoga on most mornings. Her mother had started yoga year ago and had taken Hermione for a lesson in the summer. Since the school started she had continued to do the asanas in the mornings. She had noticed she was more energetic during the day with the peaceful start of morning. It was also a great way to spend the 90 minutes before Great Hall was opened for breakfast. After some porridge and fruits, she was ready for couple hours in the library. Hermione had a list of things she needed to look up, mostly for DA or homework. She pulled several books from selves and settled at a desk near a window at the back. Students usually came to get books on Sunday to finish homework and she had learned the hard way that they could get disruptive for her studying.

She had been reading for over an hour when she heard a noise behind her. She turned around, wondering if her friends had come to drag her away, to see who was there. There was no one. She turned back to go back to reading but there was something off. There was a small white box in front of her on the table. She looked around again but she still couldn't see anyone. Despite being sure it was from the mystery friend, she still checked it for spells. Deciding it was safe, Hermione lifted the lid. This time, it was a ink bottle. She checked the lid for note but it was blank. Taking a second look at the ink bottle, she realised it was quite expensive. She had seen the ink in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop but had never dared to buy it. If you tapped the bottle with a wand and named a colour, it changed to said colour. But how did he know exactly know what to get her? Were they just coincidences? She stared at the bottle in amazement. Eventually she look back into the box to see if there was a word from him. At the bottom of the box there was a torn note.

_Dear Hermione_

_I thought you might like the ink. I've noticed that you have several colour for different things. I like to use them too. It makes easier keeping track of notes, homework and personal notes. Research is a lot quicker too. I like to use one colour for one type of magic and shades for categories in it. So much quicker to look for if you have a system. I've seen you using the quills I got you, you have no idea how worried I was you were going to hate them. I'm usually rational but not when it comes to you. I wasn't entirely sure if you were using white sugar quills because they aren't other kinds in Hogsmeade or you didn't know there were other or you just didn't like them. Yeah, I'm going to stop now.._

_Mystery Friend_

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><p>I still don't own anything but the plot. I have been wondering if I should write a scene with twins or other people. I have had a thought but I'm not entirely sure about it.<p> 


	4. 8 Days to Vday

Hermione was exhausted. Even more exhausted than she had ever been in her third year. Her O.W.L.s were coming up in few months. She had started a while ago by going through her books and notes and she made lists about questions that came up, checked the books in footnotes for further reading. If it wasn't enough, younger years kept coming to her with questions mostly about defence. Some of the seventh years had asked copies of her notes too. For some reason everyone wanted her help that particular day. It had started to feel like conspiracy against her. She even hadn't had the change to do yoga that morning and she was loosing her patience. The only people who didn't need her help were Ron and Harry. They had been completely ignorant about the study plan she had made for them.

It had been very busy and stressful couple of months. Worst had been Christmas, when Arthur Weasley had been attacked by a giant snake. Thanks to Harry weird vision, he had made full recovery quite quickly. Then had there had been a mass brake out from Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic was still blaming it on Sirius Black. She threw herself on her bed. How could adults be so stupid? She couldn't understand how burying their heads in sand would help. If the Ministry had started to take some action against Voldemort when he had resurrected himself, then some of the problems could have been avoided. She was so tired. It was Sunday evening but the weekend hadn't helped her mood. If anything, it had made her feel worse. She just wanted a brake. She stared at the canopy of her bed, trying to stop her mind going in circles.

She blushed brightly when she remembered blowing up at Ron when he had made a comment about her hair. He had never learned the finer points in talking with girls or he had once again forgotten she wasn't one of the guys. She had been in middle of a rant about the boys playing around and not thinking ahead. They could have spared a hour or two of their Sunday to read their old books but no. In the middle Ron had made a comment that her hair was going even more wild. She had lost it and started to hit him. Luckily for him the nearest object to her was a notebook and not an actual book. After a couple of hits, she had gone up to her dorm. And now she was lying on her bed. There wasn't anyone in the room, all of the other were in the common room. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Good thing was she was alone and she could take a moment to get herself together but in the morning they would start on her. They needed the smallest of excuse to start commenting her hair. She had already tried everything muggle and magical to fix it and only product that helped her was a Sleekeazy Hair Potion but it had to be applied every morning. She wasn't a vain girl but the comments did hurt her.

She turned on her side and stared out the window. It was so dark out there. It was too cloudy to see the stars or moon. She felt her body start to relax and not long after she was falling asleep.

* * *

><p>She woke up suddenly. She could have sworn she had heard a noise but the room was silent and dark. All the other girls had come up a while ago since they were all asleep. She light up the room with her wand but there wasn't anything new to see. She leaned back down on her bed and tried to relax. After calming down her heartbeat, she went in the bathroom to change clothes and brush her teeth. She settled back down on her bed and went to put her wand on her night table but there was scroll with a large red bow. The noise must have been accomplish of her mystery friend. There was a fail-safe in the wards of the girl's staircase, if a male teacher had to come up there in emergency. Even she didn't know what that fail-safe was. She didn't want to think how someone could find out what it is. She moved the book on her bed and closed the curtains. Last thing she needed to wake up the other girls. She check the the scroll for spells even though she did think it was safe. He hadn't done anything to her yet. She opened the bow and unrolled the scroll. It was written in his elegant handwriting.<p>

_Dear Hermione_

_I should probably write something about myself. The closest person to me is my brother. I don't know if you know much about magical families. It's something that isn't in books and only way for you to know is from your friend Ron. Because it's normal to him, he most likely hasn't thought to say anything about it. There is difference between magical and non-magical families. Magical families form deeper bonds with each other, partly because our, their magic is so similar and connected. It's because of this that lineage potions or spells work. They recognize the bonds. I've heard about it working on muggles as well. I know you have too: the stories where a parent knows something has happened to their child. That's the bond I'm talking about. I think that every single person on this planet has magic but the amount varies. Magical folk like us has more, squibs have little and muggles even less. In magical families like I said the bond is bigger. I would know if close family member would die. I´ve felt it once. When my brother and I were 5, we had decided to go to a stream in the woods behind our home. We waited for our mother to turn her back to us and we ran for it. We knew it was forbidden. When we reached the woods, we could hear our mother yelling for us but we wanted to see it. So we ran with our little legs and probably with help from our magic to the stream. When we got there, we were so happy and giddy it had worked. My brother wanted to get a sip from the water, but when he reached down the big rock, he fell in. I´ve never been so scared in my life, I yelled so hard. It didn't take long for my parents to get to us. My screaming probably helped. When they got my brother out, I couldn't feel him. Later I realised that he had died for few minutes. My parents managed to get the water our of his lungs and get him breathing again. Brief visit in St. Mungo's and he was right as rain. We were very lucky. For about a week I couldn't leave him more than a minute at the time. Our bond has been actually a lot deeper since then. We are actually somewhat emphatic. Anyway I just wanted to share this with you. Only my parents, my brother and I know about this and now you._

_Your's Mystery Friend_

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><p>I still don't own anything you recognize. For some reason in my boring life, everything happens at once.. I just wanted to apologize for the wait. I'm sorry<p>

Also I keep correcting the dates, now they should be like they were in 1996


	5. 6 Days to Vday

Hermione had read the letter twice before going to sleep and again in the morning. The letter had made her feel important, even thought she had no idea who had written it. Her Mystery Friend had confided in her. Also the letter gave a small clue of the identity of the writer. He had a brother.

The day had started badly. She and Ron had managed to make a scene in the common room in the morning. He had tried to apologize to her, but had ended up insulting her even more. It had ended up with her storming out in tears, cursing both her hair and boys. She had knocked several people out of her way. Ron had managed to apologize during Transfiguration lesson, although it had cost him 20 points and detention.

Lunch was as chaotic as always in the Gryffindor table. She had been thinking about the family bond the whole day and after lessons she was planning on visiting the library to see if they had any answers to her questions.

"Ron, why haven't you ever told me about family bonds?" Hermione finally asked him. She had been wondering about the subject for hours. Harry looked at her curiously.

"Why should I have, everyone knows about them." 'Alright this is going to be harder than I thought it would be,' thought Hermione. She rolled her eyes and caught sight of Harry's amusement. "I've never heard about them before. We weren't been raised in a magical family.." Answered Harry for Hermione.

"Oh, right. Well, every family member is connected to each other. When people get married, they are usually soul bound in some way. Oh and there are soul mates, although it's not their souls that match, but magics and they can bond without rituals, but that's really, really rare. When they have kids, the parents have a connection to them. Mum said it helped taking care of all of us. She could tell when the twins were doing something they weren't supposed to and knew when we were in danger. It's not as strong now that we're in school, I think. It weakest after our magic is matured around 17th birthday, but she can tell if one of us is in dying." She was itching to take notes from him, but knew he wouldn't stop teasing her if she did. He did think he wasn't as smart as others but he did know a lot from being a pureblood. "Oh, that's why the twins can speak like that. Only thing stronger than a twin bond is soul mates. It doesn't matter if they are identical or not. Mum's brothers weren't identical but they were like those two." He pointed at the end of the table at his brothers. "It doesn't always work. Sometimes the bond is sort of broken. I think something like that happened to the Patil's. I don't really know how that happens." He shrugged and went back to eating. Hermione and Harry looked at each other. They both had had a valuable lesson in magical society. They were both at a disadvantage being raised by muggles. Even though Harry was considered to be a first generation pureblood, no one had taught him.

* * *

><p>Rest of the day went more peacefully. The trio had uneventful and sleepy history lessons and she had Arithmency last. Unfortunately she had to forget the library but Ron had been surprisingly informative. Since Harry and Ron had spend their afternoon outside flying, they spend the rest of the evening inside doing homework. Hermione rolled her eyes at the boys. They had Potions first thing tomorrow morning and they had only just started doing required homework. She was already half way through her Transfiguration essay when a first year nervously cleared his throat.<p>

"Can I help you?" She said smiling to the small boy. "There was a package on the table, it has your name on it and.." Rest of the boys words were mumbled so she couldn't catch anything after 'and'. She thanked him with a smiled and took the package. This time it had a spell on it. She was confused. All the previous packages didn't have any spells on them. She used a more specific diagnostic spell and it turned out to be a mild compulsion spell. It was what had confused the poor boy. It looked like her Mystery Friend had wanted to ensure she would get the package and no one else. Harry and Ron were about to ask, but she stared them down and pointed at their homework. They were so easy. She tried to hide her smile and turned back to the package. It was bigger than before and quite heavy. She was very intrigued. She ripped open the paper and found a book in her hands. It was a book she had never seen before. In beautiful calligraphy read ´Hogwarts, stories from students.´ She turned to the first page but found a note from the giver.

_Dear Hermione_

_I know one of your favourite books is Hogwarts, a history so I though you might like this one. It is actually a unofficial book and cannot be found almost anywhere. Maybe one day I'll tell you how I got my hands on it._

_The biggest secret about it actually that Hogwarts herself chooses who writes in it. So don't even think about telling anyone. I'm lucky Hogwarts likes me so I could get it and make a copy for you. I think she likes you too. She likes characters. Anyway in the book are several stories from students from several eras. I think you'll find page 365 interesting. For the last entry I think you're going to figure out something because I'm coming out with nothing. Apparently he hasn't proved his worth yet. You can't show him the book or you could but he won't see anything. I tried asking Hogwarts for clues but she's been a bit quiet. I'm not crazy! She doesn't really talk but she can guide and it takes a while to get hang of it. But when you figure it out she'll help you out with patrols._

_Yours Mystery Friend_

She quickly turned to page 365. Her jaw dropped open. It was written by Albus Dumbledore. She quickly scanned several pages. It seemed he had figured out how to use the portraits for information already in seventh grade. She turned to the last page of the book. '_We hope you will figure out more hidden passages. We have no idea how many there are but if you're lucky Hogwarts will give you some hints. Good Luck on your voyages of mischief, Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail and Moony_.' She had to find a way to to show this to Harry.

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><p>I own only the plot. Another chapter done! I hope you like and that there are no major mistakes in it.<p> 


	6. 5 Days to Vday

I´m sorry but this chapter doesn't have a gift or a letter. I still hope you like it.

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><p>The book turned out to be longer than it looked. Although it wasn't a small book, it had to have more than couple of thousands of pages. It was however intuitive. It would open either where she had left off last time, or begin at a start of new story. The stories varied from one page to ten. She also had to look up a translation spell. The first story was from the middle ages. She wondered if that was when the castle had absorbed enough magic to become aware. The stories varied from general lives of people of that age or school. She had learned that teachers might choose a first years as an apprentice if they showed enough talent in their field. The apprentice would go to school normally with others but have extra classes with their mentor. When they graduated, they would become experts in their field. Only when they took on their own apprentice they would become master or mistress of their field. The same principle was still used but there were very few master in the wizarding world. When she had learned Professor Snape was a Potion master she had looked checked and realised there were only 5 Potion Masters in the whole wizarding world. Even Professor McGonagall wasn't master level.<p>

She had tried to figure out how to copy pages from the book for Harry. He would love to have something from his father and best friends. When she had received the book they had tried to look at it but they could only see blank pages like the letter had said. She also noticed that she had to have it with her. She couldn't leave it too far away without getting the urge to get it back. She didn't know if there was a complicated compulsion charm in the book or if it was Hogwarts herself. She did note that making her patrol was easier than other prefect had complained. She would often see a faint flutter of tapestry or or strange sounds coming from hidden alcoves. Sometimes even the lights dimmed on one direction and when she would go the lighter path she would find students. She wasn't entirely sure if she had been imagining it but she silently thanked the castle at the end of her rounds.

Like always on Saturday mornings, she was sitting at the Gryffindor table at 8 o'clock. Like she had guessed, there were only few people. In the next table was couple of early Ravenclaws reading. They like her had come early to eat and spend hour or so reading at the table. On the other side Hufflepuff table was empty. They usually appeared around 9 am in one quite large mass. Often they made plans for rest of the day so if anyone needed help with homework or lessons there was someone to go to. While Ravenclaws usually got the best grades in school, Hufflepuffs had steady and good grades. In general Gryffindors did worst in the school but they usually had one or two subject they excelled in. There were half a dozen Slytherins, but they usually ate and left. Sometimes one stayed behind but only if they had friend from another house eating at the same time.

The only Gryffindors in sight were the twins. They were just arriving to the table They had inherited their mother's habit of rising early, although their mother had to and it took her usually an hour to wake up completely. She wasn't sure if she had to wake up because of the twins or to start the day for the large family. Who knew what those could get into without supervision.

"You really should try to sleep in once in a while." Fred commented, when they had sat down with her in the middle.

"You are one to talk. You're here too." Replied Hermione, slightly anxious.

"Yes but we just woke up, you've been here probably since breakfast started. Who knows when you woke up." Said George from her right. They had already started making a dent in the breakfast selection although much more gracefully and cleaner than their brother. "So are you doing homework today?"

"Probably, the boys won't wake up for couple hours and the common room will be mostly empty. Most likely I won't get anything done later, with helping younger students and prefect duties." She couldn't help but wonder why he'd ask about her. They seemed to be having a some form of a silent argument. Even though she was literally in the middle of it, she had no idea what was being communicated between them. All she could get from their expressions that George was for and Fred was against. It seemed like George was winning since he was smiling more and Fred hunched over his plate of waffles.

"We could use your help with something." Before she could even think about what George had said she burst out. "I am not helping with your pranks!"

"Not everything we do is pranks, you know." This time is was Fred who talked. "We've been experimenting with other things lately and we've hit a small wall in one of them. It starts out well but it sort of blows up before we can stabilize it." She couldn't help but be curious on what other things they were coming up with. "As long as it doesn't do change, harm or embarrass someone, I'll help you." Fred seemed genuinely surprised by her offer of help. George on the other hand smiled widely. He nodded to his brother and suddenly she was lifted up by her arms and set on the floor. "Great, then you won't mind if we put blindfold on you." She tried to protest but he had already secured something over her eyes and they started to lead her out by her elbows.

"Hello professor, we're just taking Hermione to see our lair." She tried to see anything though the blindfold, to tell who Fred was talking to but all she could see was black.

"Then don't let an old man stop you." She didn't think the situation could have gotten any weirder. Professor Dumbledore had given a promise to let her kidnapping continue. "But, hey, what?" was all she could get out of her mouth before the twins started to walk again with her. She was having some trouble staying upright, they were walking pretty fast and turning enough so she was confused if where she was. They might have been walking in circles but they seemed to know exactly where to go. Finally they seemed to slow down and open a door.

"Let's get this off so you can see our little operation." The room was lighted with torches and her eyes quickly adjusted to the light. They were in a large room, the walls were covered in full selves. She turned out in wonder how much they had created themselves. There were different sizes of bottles some looked like they had potions judging by the labels and some were ingredients. There were different sizes of boxes on the other side of the room which looked like to be an area for charms work. She looked where they had entered the room and in the middle was big dark wood table with 3 cauldrons on fire. "You've done this alone?"

"Pretty much. We can't really ask teachers for help since a lot of this is prank material. They would just confiscate it. Professor Dumbledore seems to know when we hit a wall and has a suggestion on how to go on but we've had wards around this place and no one has touched them. We have no idea how he does it." Fred answered her question. He was very proud of their work and she could see it clearly from his tone of voice and slight defensive attitude to her question.

She wandered over to the charms workplace and used a diagnostic charm on the box on the table. "You've combined different charms and is that a potion..?"

"Actually we wanted you to look this. It's from our serious line. It's actually Kingsley's idea. He wondered if we could come up with something to help the Aurors. He wanted something small to carry in pockets but that could give them an edge either fighting or some covert business. This is what we came up with." Fred picked up a small object from the table that looked like to have legs. He put it on the floor and tapped it with his wand. It ran away in the opposite direction and continued to run around the room. She looked a the twins with raised eyebrow. George shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah that's the problem. We've tried attaching different things to it but they don't work very well. First we tried a form of an eye but the whole thing is too big and hard to control. Then we figured it could work as a decoy but it started shrieking as soon as we tap it with a wand. Great way to give away your location!" He said with a laugh. She stared at him like he was crazy. Maybe they were since they seemed to be so brilliant. Although she was not going to say that to them. She turned to look at the running leggy ball. She did have a vague idea what could possibly work depending on the charms used on it. She started mentally going through her knowledge of spells and she didn't hear Fred say ´there she goes.´

It took her about 10 minutes to figure out a viable option for the ball. "Did you have problems with attaching timing spell because of the amount of spells on the device?" By the twin's faces she had hit the nail of the problem. "If you attach a separate piece to make the noise and coat it with potion that reacts to air. The tap on the wand cancels the stasis charm on it, causing it to run and the potion to dissolve. When the potion is gone the spell activates." She had only couple of seconds before she was engulfed by two pairs of hands. She started giggling when they picked her up from the floor, still hugging her. A timer went off in the room and Fred had to run off to one of the potions on the table.

" We'll start with your idea and we'll show you, where we get from there. I'm sorry, but I need to put the blindfold on you again." George looked apologetic and she let him lead her out of the room without any fuss. He led her back to the Gryffindor entrance.

"I am in your debt, milady!" He bowed and walked back to where they had come from.

* * *

><p>I only own what you don't recognize. I had alot of trouble writing this. I really hope you like it and that there are no big mistakes.<p> 


	7. 3 Days to Vday

It was the next day since Fred and George showed Hermione their budding business. She was even more amazed about the twins joke business. She had asked Harry about their operation and he had been surprisingly helpful. Apparently they had a very successful mail order business. They had dozens of different products and they were constantly inventing more. Surprisingly for her, they had a lot of products that had nothing to do with pranking. They even had a few products for the teenage acne problems. She couldn't understand why they didn't get better grades since they had talents in different areas of magic. She could understand why Ron was struggling, since he didn't want to put effort in anything but quidditch. The twins would always be a mystery for her.

* * *

><p>It was late Saturday evening. After spending most of the day in the library trying to find more spells for the twins and she had to finish her prefect rounds. Once again the castle had been kind to her and she didn't have any trouble during her rounds. She was exhausted and only thing she wanted was to get into bed and sleep. After finishing her rounds at the Gryffindor common room she quickly got in and spotted her friends. The common room had been almost empty, Harry and Ron had been waiting for her to get back. They had gone to bed once she was safely back in their common room. Harry especially worried about her safety ever since she was his friend and brightest muggleborn. She was sure to be on Voldemorts hit list after his resurrection the previous summer.<p>

After saying good nights to her friends, she too went up to her dorm room. She took her night clothes and went in the bathroom. She didn't take too much time, she just wanted into her bed. However on her pillow was a small box. She was both delighted and dismayed. Her mystery friend had send another gift but the timing could have been better. She opened the box and saw that it had a silver ring. It had a fingernail sized stone in it but she decided that closer inspection could wait for the morning.

* * *

><p>Hermione woke up from a particular nice dream the next morning. In the dream the war was over and she was at the Burrow. All the Weasleys were there for breakfast. Just as she woke up the twins had arrived with a bang literally. They had set off several fireworks when they apparated in. She stretched her back when her hands collided with the box on the table. She realised, that she hadn't been awake enough to look at more thoroughly before. She opened it and turned it upside down. The ring and a small note fell off. The stone looked to be pale blue in colour . She turned it in her hands and looped at the little note on the bed.<p>

_Dear Hermione_

_I had a change to get this. It's actually WWW test product but you know that those are pretty much everywhere. I had a bit of a hassle to get this actually._

_The stone is a miniature sneakoscope. It should turn red and heat up, when someone very near you is lying. As I understand though the range is very limited, about a foot or so. I figured, it would be very useful for you, especially in your adventures._

_Yours Mystery Friend_

She was delighted that the ring had something special. She rarely wore jewellery and the ones she did wear, had very special meaning. The necklace she usually wore, was her grandmothers and it had been in her family for generations. She put on the ring and she could feel something, it was like a electric tingle on her finger. She smiled at the magic. She went about her usual morning, doing her asanas and by the time she was ready, her friends very ready to go to breakfast.

"Good Morning Harry!" She greeted her wake friend. Ron seemed to me mostly asleep even if he was able to walk almost in the right direction.

"Morning Hermione. Been up long?" Harry asked her. She laughed at how every Monday it was the same thing. Ron would wake up sometimes during the breakfast but getting him there would become much easier when he could smell the food. Right at the moment Harry had to steer him in the right direction. They had once let him walk his own way and they had lost him by the first stairs. He had simply walked onwards, while Harry and Hermione had turned.

"A while. I managed to find something promising for the twins." Harry laughed at what she was saying. "You were the last person I ever thought would help them" Even Hermione had to smile at that.

It didn't take them long to get to the Great Hall and start eating. She, like always, selected fruits and muesli, watching Harry and Ron attacked anything near them. After eating a while, Harry turned to her and after watching her a while he asked. "Is that a new ring?"

Hermione turned the hand towards her. "it is actually. It's supposed to be a version of sneakoscope. But so far I haven't had the chance to test it yet." Harry smiled wickedly and elbowed Ron. "Hey, Ron, last night with those third years, aren't you supposed to hand the jokes over to McGonagall?"

"What, I have no idea what you're talking about Harry. Stop bothering me!" Hermione laughed at Ron's response. The ring on her finger was very warm.

* * *

><p>I don't own anything you recognize.<p>

Sorry for the wait. It wasn't enough I'm in medical limbo, doctor's haven't decided am I going to surgery or not.. Then my grampa died.. I haven't excatly been in the romantic writing mood lately. I sincerely hope your spring is going heck of a lot better than mine!


	8. 2 Days to Vday

Hermione read through her breakfast on Monday morning. She had managed to get the confiscated items from her fellow prefect after badgering him for hours. She knew stubbornness wasn't her best quality, but she couldn't let her friend keep the items for his own amusement. If he wanted them so badly, he could buy them like anyone else. Ron was still miffed about loosing his new toys. He had said few words to Hermione since the previous evening. Harry, refusing to be the mediator between them, had decided to eat breakfast with their dorm mates, Seamus, Dean and Neville. Since Ron refused to speak to her, she could use the time to read extra material for the OWLs. Suddenly, an owl landed next to her plate. The owl however didn't seem to like the bigger owls flying around and before her eyes got thinner, hawk-like. Hermione was couldn't help, but think that the strange owl reminded her of Dracula. She released the box on the owl's leg and the owl quickly puffed up and flew off. She couldn't think anyone, who had owl like that and she definitely had not seen it before.

She opened the box and saw it contained a small bottle and around it a letter. She opened the bottle to smell it, but she couldn't recognize more than lavender, lilacs and hint of lemon. She straightened the letter and read it.

_Dear Hermione_

_I hope you won't take this next present in the wrong way. I mean no offence with it! I just know this issue is quite important to you, and it bothers you. I remember you used Slickeazy in the Yule Ball, but you prefer not to use in everyday, only for the special occasions. I can understand why. It also tends to make the hair worse after you wash it off. I'm speaking from experience. My brother could not stop laughing at me, when I tried it. It didn't help, that it reacted to some potion fumes in an interesting fashion... Anyway this is something I put together for you. I've been making my own shampoo for a while and I thought I would try to do the same for you. Well yours is a conditioner, not shampoo. It ought to work better for you. You should leave it on for couple of minutes and rinse it off. It should smooth out your hair rather than weigh it down like Slickeazy. And I have tried it before sending it to you, so unless you have allergies, it's perfectly safe. If you like it, I will send more. This is sort of a test product. If it doesn't work as well as I like it, I have to go back to the cauldron. Also if you have preference in scent, I can change that very easily. _

_Since I already know few things about you, I'll tell little more about me. I've always hated bullies. Good fun is not picking on someone smaller than you. Although I have had not so proud moments in my past, I have learned my lesson. As a first year, I saw my brother being bullied by NEWT level students. I couldn't do anything to help him then, other than getting help. But ever since then, I've tried to help the one being bullied. Sometimes not so noticeably, but I cannot stand by it._

_Yours Mystery Friend_

* * *

><p>She had had a long day. It had started with history of magic and ended with Defence with Potions in the middle. She had tried to help Harry during Potions and Defence, but both of their teachers were against him. So not only were Harry's nerves fraying, hers were as well. She couldn't understand how such a incompetent teacher could have survived in Hogwarts so long. Luckily they had started the defence club. They were already casting patroni.<p>

She decided she needed to take a long hot shower to calm herself. She thought of her new gift. So far she hadn't gotten any harmful gifts, but there was a nagging doubt back of head. What if she lost her hair or the potion changed her hair colour? She would just have to go for it. When she finally looked herself in the mirror after the shower, she could already see some difference. All her hair was still in her head and it had remained brown. But it seemed shinier and smoother.

"Your hair, it looks amazing!" Was the first thing Hermione heard, the voice belonging to a very surprised Lavender. Apparently her dorm mates had come up after her. Hermione nervously ran her hand through her now silky curls. She couldn't believe the change herself. She muttered a quick thank you and collected her back bag and practically ran down to the common room. However she did not expect the reaction downstairs. She had left in a hurry and made enough noise to attract attention of the nearest people. Who happened to be the twins. They looked to be making notes on something with Fred writing and George dictating and commenting. Seeing Hermione, George let out a whistle, which drew attention from Fred, Ron and Harry who were occupying the table behind the twins. Hermione dropped her bag on the floor next to a empty chair and dropped herself on it. Ron was making an excellent impression of a fish, while Harry was laughing and trying to say something until she caught Hermione's evil eye. She was secretly enjoying her new hairstyle, but the attention was too much. Especially since the wrong red head seemed to show appreciation for it. She really needed to get over her crush on him.

* * *

><p>Ok, not the easiest spring.. 2 funerals and lots of stress. Both my granparents died in excatly 2 months apart and participating in the funeral, expecially as a pallbearer is incredibly stressfull. And now I'm loosing my appartment.. Anyway not very romantic athmosphere.. So I apologize for the wait. And Thank You for the kind words and I am not about to die from my medical issue. It's just my appendix, which burst over six months ago and doctors disagree whether I can have it or now..<p>

I really hope you like it and what you recognize, i don't own.


	9. 1 Day to Vday

Ron and Ginny were sitting at the opposite sidee to Hermione and Harry on Tuesday morning. Ginny was talking with her friends, while Ron was trying to empty his side of the table like any other morning. Hermione and Harry were watching half fascinated, half horrified by the amount of food he was able to eat.

Hermione's attention was caught by the owls appearing on the Great hall. Even after over 4 and half years, she was still amazed by the seeming chaos of morning mail. She was surprised when one of them landed next to her. It seemed to be an ordinary barn owl. She gave the owl some bacon, before untying the small, brown box from the owl's leg. She could feel Harry moving to get a better look at the box. With a quick finite the box grew almost to her eye-level. She concentrated on the box and ignored Ron's half mumbled questions. She could only assume, he meant to ask what's in it, but she could never be sure when he had his mouth full. She cut the string and the whole box came apart. The box revealed three flowers entwined together in a single flower pot. She could recognize red daisy, lily of the valley and light pink rose.

She was startled out of her thought by a chocking sound. When she looked up, she could see Ginny pounding on Ron's back. It took him almost a minute to catch his breath from the coughing and choking.

"Who send you that?" Ron managed to rasp.

"What's matter with them?" Wondered Harry aloud touching the flowers. Ron gave him a weird look. Harry couldn't understand, why the flowers were such a big deal.

"What's the matter.. That's a courting gift! Three entwined flowers!" Ginny was nodding to Ron's explanation. "You're supposed to get it when your home with your family. The one courting you is supposed to ´declare his intentions to family as well as the one being courted´." Added Ginny. She even used air quotes, apparently quoting their mother.

"Courting?" Hermione was feeling very faint since the word was furst used.

"It's not as bad as your thinking. Nowadays it's more of sign of wizard wanting a serious relationship. Although less than a hundred years ago it did lead to marriage.." Ginny tried to reassure Hermione. "The flowers are supposed to represent, you, him and what he is offering you."

Hermione sat at the table shocked. She had read about courting, but she had never thought it was still used. There was no note and she could only hope it was from her secret admirer, although she was getting somewhat scared. She looked at her friend and they didn't seem to be in much better condition than she was. She took the flowers and ran to the Gryffindor tower. She wasn't sure if she was ever ready to answer their unavoidable questions.

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron had badgered her through the morning lessons. Her friends had already lost 30 points from Gryffindor by the time Transfiguration lessons ended and unfortunately for her, worst was ahead. Their last lessons were Care of magical Creatures and Herbology, where they could speak more freely. In the end Hermione had to escape to library to get some peace and quiet.<p>

She moved through the library shelves with ease and stopped at the Herbology and wizarding traditions shelves. She picked up half a dozen books that could have some information. She took her books to a secluded corner and started with herbology books. The books did have information on the flowers and how to care, but nothing on their meanings. The second book on traditions was much more promising. It had a chapter on courting. Apparently her secret friend had started the courting by sending her presents. She wondered why he had started courting her, but it did suggest her admirer was pureblood or at least raised in a magical family. She turned the page and found several pages worth of flowers and their meaning. According to the book red daisy was for beauty unknown to the possessor. Was he trying to say she was beautiful? It was only explanation that would make sense to her. Next she found lily of the valley. It signified sweetness, returning happiness and also trustworthiness. Last she found rose. She hadn't realised that this simple flower had so many meaning depending on the colour or combination. The book said light pink means joy of life, youth and energy. She imagined that the rose was for him and the lily of the valley was what he was offering. As she sat back in her chair, she noticed a note on the book. It simply read _tomorrow_.

* * *

><p>Sorry it's been sucha long time. More health problems and getting ready for university. Hope you like this one, not my best work but I've been having creativity problems lately<p> 


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